Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world

[DainBramaged]

It is currently responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide (about 5 million deaths each year) current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. Half the people that smoke today -that is about 650 million people- will eventually be killed by tobacco.



Tobacco is the fourth most common risk factor for disease worldwide. The economic costs of tobacco use are equally devastating. In addition to the high public health costs of treating tobacco-caused diseases, tobacco kills people at the height of their productivity, depriving families of breadwinners and nations of a healthy workforce. Tobacco users are also less productive while they are alive due to increased sickness. A 1994 report estimated that the use of tobacco resulted in an annual global net loss of US$ 200 thousand million, a third of this loss being in developing countries.

http://www.who.int/tobacco/health_priority/en/index.html


Perspective, what makes the Internets great.

[UndertheOcean]

1. death is good ,less people taking up resources

less suffering

[Maru Kitteh]

9. Having watched my father die of emphysema, your statement is grossly offensive

I'm going to resist the overpowering urge to say many things right now.

[UndertheOcean]

15. sorry , I was depressed and drunk and foolish last night

I experienced death of loved ones and family to know how horrible it is ,sometimes you get caught in the pointlessness of it all , and just hope for oblivion.

[robdogbucky]

2. one more data bit

Anyone recall the NBC Dateline from a couple of years ago that did a segment on hospital borne infections?

They account for more deaths annually in the US than violent crime and AIDS combined.



robdogbucky

[robdogbucky]

3. Dain

you should have posted this on the smoking thread the other day.



robdogbucky

[DainBramaged]

6. I didn't think about it till this morning

So many people on DU are reacting to the pig flu as if the world is coming to an end, and they can't post news fast enough to prove they are right. It reminds me of the peak oil advocates. Last year during the worst of the US gas price crunch, they were THRILLED their proclamations were coming true. Now, in spite of the fact that OPEC has tried to turn off the spigots, we are awash in oil, with a surplus in this country of close to HALF A BILLION BARRELS in storage. And they have slunk away.

So now, with pig flu the headline, while the torture memos are being pushed to the back pages, I wonder who is really behind this 'news'.

Be well.

[Berry Cool]

14. You have an excellent point about tobacco.

But expect it to be buried in attacks by people who will call you a "nanny" and imply that you are trying to interfere with their "freedom."

[DainBramaged]

16. They want to kill themselves, OK by me. I'm not encroaching on their freedom to commit

suicide by smoke.

[BlooInBloo]

4. Living is #1.

[DainBramaged]

5. Death chart, year 2000

Tobacco 435,000
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity 365,000
Alcohol 85,000
Microbial Agents 75,000
Toxic Agents 55,0001
Motor Vehicle Crashes 26,347
Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs 32,000
Suicide 30,6223
Incidents Involving Firearms 29,000
Homicide 20,308
Sexual Behaviors 20,000
All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect 17,0001,
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin 7,600
Marijuana 0


An exhaustive search of the literature finds no credible reports of deaths induced by marijuana. The US Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) records instances of drug mentions in medical examiners' reports, and though marijuana is mentioned, it is usually in combination with alcohol or other drugs. Marijuana alone has not been shown to cause an overdose death.

http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30


No mention of swine flu, nope none.

[REP]

7. About 36,000 die per year in the US from flu each year

(source, CDC)

Doesn't have to be swine flu. Any strain of flu is deadly. What's causing concern in the current strain isn't killing the usual suspects - the very young, the very old, and folks like me (compromised immune system) - but those in the 'prime' of life; at least, so far.

It IS a concern, but the sky is NOT falling.

[DainBramaged]

8. Killing folks in Mexico, not in the US where we have better diets, sanitation, air quality

and health care. The point that pneumonia deaths are slightly up in Mexico seems to confirm this. Too many people here refuse to highlight that fact. And the articles that have concentrated on the outbreak here have agreed that the symptoms are mild and those suspected cases are recovered or recovering. A fact the panic spreaders will not acknowledge. Does anyone here think that the Bush people have all left the CDC?

And remember, the torture stories may be pushed off the agenda on the Sunday talk shows, which would mean Mission Accomplished for the GOP propaganda machine.

[REP]

10. Hey, I'm the one who said the sky is NOT falling!

Death rates from influenza in the US have been pretty steady for decades, no matter who was president or was running the CDC. It's an ugly disease, and people do die from it - mostly the very young, the very old, and people who already have a chronic illness or two.

Are we seeing the beginning of another Spanish flu? Probably not, but as a health (not hype) story, it does have some merit. Of course, medical reporting in this country largely sucks if one reads/listens to non-medical sources, like cable/network news shows or Gannett/Knight-Ridder/et alia papers or sites.

[Fumesucker]

11. It isn't just medical reporting...

"Of course, medical reporting in this country largely sucks"..

Nope, it's just about all reporting that largely sucks in America these days.

[REP]

12. You can find good medical papers if you know where to look

They're not as exciting as the "We're all gonna die* (*except maybe not)" but they do cite their sources and methodologies.

[Fumesucker]

13. But that is not where most people get their information..

Sure you can find good information, but the point I'm making is that you have to search for it, it's not spread all over the media.

What is indeed spread all over the media is misinformation, disinformation and outright hysteria.

Pretty much that is the pattern for American popular media these days.

[DainBramaged]

17. Kick for perspective.

Number of deaths for leading causes of death

Heart disease: 652,091

Cancer: 559,312

Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 143,579

Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 130,933

Accidents (unintentional injuries): 117,809

Diabetes: 75,119

Alzheimer's disease: 71,599

Influenza/Pneumonia: 63,001

Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 43,901

Septicemia: 34,136